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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23011024">Red or Ready</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti'>lionessvalenti</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amputee Bucky Barnes, Bucky Barnes Lives, Captain America: The First Avenger, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, M/M, Steve Rogers Lives</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 10:40:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>720</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23011024</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky is struggling after the war. Steve tries to help.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Writing Rainbow Red</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Red or Ready</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Plaid_Slytherin/gifts">The_Plaid_Slytherin</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bucky slumped into Steve's apartment, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He kept his left elbow bent, the knot at the end of his sleeve where a wrist and a hand used to be held close to his chest. "Can I stay a few days?"</p><p>"Of course," Steve said, and Bucky was already dropping his bag on the floor.</p><p>"I can't take it at home," Bucky said, flopping dramatically onto the couch. He took up the whole thing, his ankles uncomfortably dangling over the edge. "There's too many people, and they're all fussing over me, and I know, at some point they're going to get sick of fussing. You know what my Ma said to me yesterday?"</p><p>Steve settled down on the floor next to the couch. He'd only been back in New York for about a month. Bucky had come home first, a couple months earlier, after the injury that lost him his hand. Until this moment, Steve had barely seen Bucky in that time. He had begun to suspect Bucky was avoiding him.</p><p>"What'd she say?" Steve asked.</p><p>Bucky sucked his teeth loudly with his tongue. "That I'd have to find a nice girl to take care of me. Cause that's what anyone wants -- a guy they have to take care of. Makes me feel like I'm not good for anything."</p><p>Steve scooted a little closer, his face parallel with Bucky's shoulder. "No offense to your Ma, but that's bullshit. Plain and simple. You have a lot to offer. I know you can do more with one hand than most guys are going to do with two."</p><p>"Easy for you to say," Bucky said, rolling his head toward Steve. "You came back perfect."</p><p>Steve's stomach tightened slightly. "That's not fair. Science intervened."</p><p>Bucky stretched out his arm and bumped Steve's chin with his stump. "You were perfect before, too."</p><p>"Oh, well, that's... nice to say."</p><p>"Yeah, well, I gotta say nice things. I can't get a job, so I have to seem useful somehow."</p><p>Steve thought about offering Bucky an interview at SSR. He couldn't give Bucky a job outright, but if Captain America could do anything, it could be getting his best friend an interview, at least. Bucky had all the skills and experience they were looking for. He was smart and tactical; he'd been the brains behind at least a third of their HYDRA missions. He'd be a shoo-in.</p><p>But Steve didn't say any of that. Instead, he rested his hand on Bucky's chest and leaned in closer. "You're useful to me, just being here."</p><p>Bucky looked up, surprised, maybe by the closeness, or the words. He tilted his head to the side. "Yeah? I can't even shine your shoes. What uses do you have in mind?"</p><p>"This one," Steve said, and kissed him.</p><p>There was a hesitation from Bucky, his lips frozen against Steve's for a few seconds (the longest few seconds of Steve's life, and that included being shot up with vita-rays and the leap from one side of an exploding building to another), until he let out a soft moan and went in for it. </p><p>They'd kissed before, kids fooling around together, but this felt different. Steve meant it differently. They weren't kids anymore. They'd been through hell and back, and Steve wanted something else. Something more.</p><p>Steve pulled back for a moment, with a little sound of protest from Bucky, but took the separation to climb onto the couch, looming huge over Bucky. It was one the things that Steve had taken for granted would be the same when he got back from the war, and it wasn't the same at all. They'd shared this couch a hundred times, and they fit together fine. Now, they shifted around, trying to figure out where knees and elbows should go. Now, there was so much more of Steve, and a little bit less of Bucky.</p><p>Bucky slipped his hand around the back of Steve's neck and pulled him down for another kiss. "You're just doing this to make me feel better," he murmured.</p><p>"You think so?" Steve brushed his mouth against Bucky's, his lower lip tugging slightly. "I could do this all day."</p><p>For the first time in months, Bucky grinned. "You wanna prove it, Cap?"</p><p>Steve didn't hesitate and kissed him again.</p>
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